A Take On Chad's Hometown
by Deviched
Summary: Wakfu the Game: My take on what goes on in Srambad. Not really Chad/Reader.


Lumino idly bounces in place, flakes of gold drift from his fur each time he does, awaiting for the missing sidekick to arrive. Chad was supposed to meet up for the weekly training, not that his time of arrivals were consistent anyway, but he did show up for them. You would've passed it off as the occasional late day, but you've already been waiting for an hour and a half, passing the time by taking on lone kama spewing chest monsters with Lumino.

You sigh to yourself. Chad can take care of himself, being an offspring to Srambad, but it wouldn't hurt to check on him and write down the occasion of his first absence. You dismiss your Lumino for the time being, not needing to drag him around with you. He has heard your command but still lingers, tail swishing nervously. He fumbles on the weight of his tail suddenly dipping, but recovers and quickly signs 'good luck' before dashing off to wherever he needed to be. Lumino's tail is quite a good outcome predictor, with Lumino acting as the medium, you've recalled from past experience. This may not be just a checkup, you thought to yourself.

From one Zaap to another, you trip over some derbies as you came out from the portal and stumble into the the blue-grey bricked streets of Srambad. Srambad looked worse for wear, houses were covered in red graffiti of two triangles and a design with no clear shape you are familiar with, their windows bashed in, the bits of rooftop and innards of each house strewn around the area. The place was completely vacant of life. As you look further down to the left, the conditions of the defiled homes become increasingly more shoddy, some of the walls were even torn from their supports.

You hear voices of crazed laughter on the other side of the street, over the bridge made of bones, though distant, there were many. It's not in your best interests at the moment to attract any attention on yourself, but the direction of trouble would probably your best bet in finding Chad.

You follow the path previously travelled, careful of the loose rubble and unknown chemicals seeping out from the buildings. You head in the general area of where the voices came from, remaining behind the buildings that still had some form of concealment to them. Treading deeper into Srambad, you take notice of the black ash and the sparkles of pixie dust. The damages done to the stone were from explosives, highly modified and dangerous fairyworks. You have no idea what's going on in Srambad right now, but it's starting to look very grim.

It wasn't long until you were able to hear the hollers of a battle, followed with the occasional crack of a fairywork. You could see the muilticolored smoke rising into the sky, mixing together as they gain altitude into a grey and black substance that was no doubt toxic. No longer needing stealth, you quickly pick up speed into the red zone, using the alleyways as detours if your path had too many obstacles to maneuver around to make good use of time.

As you come closer to the heart of the conflict, the lighting of your area gradually turns into a red-purple hue from the burning of Srambad's clay. Turning a corner of the alley, you spot a glimpse of a fight. It was between a Bulldagger dog and his trainer against an unknown red and black assailant. Rushing out of the narrow space, you see the other brawls spread all over the once habitable marketplace of Srambad. You recognize the red and black outfitted (supposed) attackers, and now that you have a clearer view, their signature masks that proudly shows their nature. They were Masqueraiders.

You didn't have time to ponder why this particular group of Masqs were here before feeling a heated whip snapping at the tip of your footwear. You turn and face your aggressor with arms raised, their mask was noticeably oversized and uncolored. As the offending Masq reels back his whip for another lash, he was pushed from behind by an unknown force. You take this moment of unfortunate imbalance to run up, grab his collar, and knee him in the stomach. He topples over without resistance, the psyco mask rolling off as he hit the ground. Behind the mask... was another mask? The second mask was a Sram's.

A hand on your shoulder harshly pulls you, causing you fall to the floor on your back. As you pull yourself back up and search to see who it was, a fairywork flies by, sailing straight though your previous position. It was close enough for you to smell the spicy fumes of the concoction. You are tugged again by the same shoulder to look at its direction. Slowly, through the light smoke that puffs near your cheek, a figure appears before you. Though the cloak isn't fully removed yet, you could recognize those icey blue eyes from anywhere.

"What are you doing here?!" Chad's grip on your shoulder tightens.

You try to answer that you were looking for him, but you were drowned out by the sounds of a siren. You turn your attention back to the warzone. All of the "Masqueraiders" are falling back. Few linger to shout jeers and insults before retreating as well. The remaining fighters of Srambad standing are left dumbfounded, some begin to assist the wounded.

One seemingly false Masq runs back into the bazaar, their outfit shredded in certain areas. The Srambad locals take no hesitation to try to mangle him. He clings himself to the remains of a fallen structure, using his flame whip to quickly ascend between buildings. Dispite his agility, a sharpshooter apothecary lands his mark just above the Masq. The contents of the bottle drench the climber, but seems to only serve as a hindrance. As they reach the top, they shout at the top of their lungs, "THE PLACE IS LOADED! BAIL!"

Chad suddenly takes your forearm and tugs you off the ground. You aren't given much time to stand on your own before being dragged by Chad. You lose your footing, earning a temporary breather from the rough handling of Chad. He starts pulling you again into an alleyway, somewhat clear of the rubble. You manage to match Chad's pace and question him on where he was taking you.

Chad doesn't answer and continues running. Emerging from the alley, he abruptly stops, sliding on his heels and takes a sharp turn left. He lets go on you in favor of opening a trap door that blends in perfectly with the murky blue-purple ground. The wooden door struggles to open, weeds that encased themselves on the edges begin to snap at the new force. You rush over to help, taking notice of Chad's injuries. The base of the trap door snaps and splinters, not expecting the strength of two people. The sudden ease from the door causes you to tumble into the innards. You hold onto the edge upsidown and shift your weight backwards to your legs that are still outside to prevent yourself from hitting a floor that was too dark to see. Chad falls in, taking a hold of your belt strap to pull the rest of you inside. You land on your right arm and back, legs hitting a box.

You couldn't help letting out a grunt in pain. You let the pain settle itself, pulling yourself up as it fades to a more numbing feeling. Looking around, you see the first half(?) of the room lit by the orange lighting outside. Behind you are dusty grey-blue boxes decorated with the occasional traditional skull of Srambad.

You spot Chad's outline, he's leaning on the bone designed leg of a table, not moving. You call out for Chad, asking if he was alright. He doesn't move nor make a sound. You use the crate closest to you to help you up. As to move towards Chad, you hear the muffled shrieks of fairyworks igniting. You rush over to Chad's side, opting to physically try to wake him back up over the sounds of imminent demolition. The rockets soon begin their uncoordinated flight, plunging themselves into what's left of this area of Srambad. Each boom of the sparklers hitting rock causes a small tremble in the ground that you could feel. Small rocks and pieces of wood fall into the trap door that was never closed, you keep watch for loose sparklers that land inside.

The duration if the barrage lasted much too long for any bits of island left in the south east of Srambad to remain floating. The assault slows down to the late bloomers, the time interval between each burst becoming more distant.

In your peripheral vision, Chad stirs and shifts himself to sit taller. Observing from this close to Chad, Chad has honestly seen a lot of better days. His clothing was torn from the abdomen, the occasional rip litter his sleeves. His body was in no better condition, covered in bruises and scorch marks. His leftvarm was easily the most severe conditioned part, a flaming whip was wrapped around it, making a burnt coil pattern with skin on the side splitting. The gloves he normally wears were missing, his knuckles are dark with blood from possibly both himself and his aggressor. You take a look into his mask, not intending to remove it. Bits of his fringe was burnt, the left eye was hit hard and was beginning to show a dark patch.

You seat yourself in front of Chad on one knee, hands on his jaw and tilting his head slightly to check for more serious wounds. You reach to your pocket for your mushray spray. It's not as effective as bread, but it can still save someone that's in no condition to eat anything. Chad raises his hand to your right wrist, pulling it away from him.

He sighs, "That won't work on poisons..." You hesitate before putting the bottle away. "The bookshelf over there," Chad lets go on your wrist, letting it slide down back to your side, and looks past you, prompting you to see what Chad was referring to, "pull it out..."

You're a bit confused by the request, but try to follow though anyway. The lighting angle helps you find the bookshelf, covered in dust bunnies and webs that have been long abandoned. Finding an area with the least amount of soot, you grab onto the bones on the sides of the shelf and give a good tug. The shelf moves slightly, but something was jamming it. You try again with a stronger pull, the shelf moves upwards before continuing to be retracted from the wall. You roll out the shelf until it begins to creak, the metal it travels on reaching its maximum length. Behind the shelf and the books, reveals another type of cabinet, free of the debrief of age. You life the bookshelf off the metal railings and set it gently to the side, pushing it to roll out of your way. You look back to Chad, wondering what to do next.

Chad motions you to come to him. "Help me up..."

You comply and return to Chad's side. You kneel down and take Chad's arm over your neck. Slowly, you stand up, supporting Chad. Both standing now, you guide Chad to the hidden cabinet. Chad halts as you pass a Srambad themed table. He reaches down and pulls out a wheel chair, one you were unable to see in the darkness. He leans away from you and places himself on the chair. Using his foot, he steps on an adjustment lever, raising the chair to a more less compacted height. Chad spins around and reaches over the table, grabbing a box with a picture of, from what you can make out, a skull engulfed in blue flames. He hits the end of the box with his palm, ejecting its content box of purple slips of paper. He takes two slips and crumples them. Chad then rolls over to the other end of the table and feels for something. He finds it and draws it into the dim light, the stone bowl on skulls squeaks as it is moved. Chad brings up his hands with the paper up to his face and gently blows on it. The paper reacts to the air and faintly glows. Chad crumples the paper again into a tighter ball. Fully cupped, he takes a breath and roughly puffs into the paper. It instantly bursts into a spark of purple flames. Chad quickly brings it away from his face and drops it into the iron torch holder. The new energy spreads throughout the dish, purple flames morphing into blue as the fire strengthens.

The room is now fully lit. It looks like any other Srambad room, save for the abundance of crates.

"Do me a favor," Chad swivels and rests his arms on the table behind him, "open up the second and sixth drawers and get the things in there for me."

Chad looks about he's about to be knocked out. You make haste, starting with the top drawer. Inside the second, there were glass bottles of liquid in multiple colors. Not knowing which to take, you grab as much as you can in one hand. You bend down for the sixth drawer. Using your free hand, you open it. Inside were bandages, some varying in cleanliness. You take the cleanest wrap from the layout. You back up, mindful if the bottles, and make your way to the table. You ease your findings on top of the table, quickly retrieving bottles that begin to roll off. Chad is asleep, his head on his arm. You shake him and let him know of the things you've brought.

Chad stirs, but is reluctant to wake. It might not be as serious as you think, considering how calm Chad is, but that may be the work of the 'poison' Chad mentioned. You run your fingers though his disheveled sticky turquoise hair and give it a good tug. Chad moans, but still isn't waking. Things were becoming desperate, you step on his foot and hold his shoulder to get a maximum strength pull on his hair.

"Ah-Ah okay, okay!" Chad gets up from his seat and grabs your throat. He don't try to constrict you, but it's pressing into your jawbone very uncomfortably. You let go and Chad yields as well.

He moves over to the bottles, forgetting about the swivel chair, and begins unroll the bandage. Chad holds up each bottle briefly before either setting it aside or opening it and pouring a bit of its contents and placing it on the other side. You move the swivel chair closer to Chad, just in case. Seemingly done with damping his bandage, he rubs his hands over it, letting it spread though the cloth and on his hand. With the same hand, Chad rubs it over the smaller cuts on his ribs. He lets out a hiss, but continues over the other cuts.

You lean on the table and wait for Chad to finish treating himself.

Chad holds out his left arm and rolls up what's left of the sleeve. He takes a breather before lifting it up and using the bandage to dab at it. You could hear the sizzle of the chemicals each time they touched his skin. Once accustomed to the stinging, Chad drapes it over his wound and begins to loosely wrap it around. He takes the chair you hinted and rests his head on the table and waits again for the buzz to stop.

You step over and hold up the two ends of the bandage, intending to assist Chad. The ends were soggy and unnaturally cold. Chad looks up at you, his mask dangerously tilted in a way that shows a bit of his lips. His eyes clearly express 'let's get this over with'. You tighten the wrap slightly, making sure it keeps it's form. Chad sets his head back down on the table and relaxes his arm, bracing himself. You warn Chad on the count of three that you'll be fastening the bandage. Chad shifts his head away in response. You pull both ends of the cloth, the sounds of the chemicals become very apparent that they're working. Chad slams his other hand onto the table and bites into the cloth of his collar. You quickly tie a knot and secure it. Your fingers that became wet begin to tingle and burn, you try to wipe it off on your pants, but the sensation still remains. You step back, letting Chad have some space for himself.

Chad coughs and wipes his face of sweat with his other sleeve. He reels from the table and holds the bandaged arm near himself.

Taking a moment to recollect himself, Chad sniffles and leans back into his chair. He runs a hand though his hair before speaking. "So I guess ya want to know what's going on in Srambad?" Chad turns his chair to face you, he looks very sunken, understandable in Chad's situation.

You nod and find a seat for yourself on one of he crates.

Chad sniffs and swipes his nose before starting. "It's some gang drama. This one particular one, Dose, has been causing issues for everyone ever since they started."

You ask if they were the Masqs that you saw fighting he residents.

"Yeah, the wannabe Masqueraiders. They're a bunch of ragtag kids that want to be both a Masq and a Sram. Some of them are real Masqs, but the majority are just Srams that steal bone whips from Bulldagger trainers and light them on fire." Chad rubs his wrapped up arm. "Nobody thought those bone suckers would expand so quickly. They started off just harassing the folks, then they moved on to heists. That's where a gang normally stops, but they continued their aggressive behavior to the point where Tethdrap, Jinx, and Skull Resistance has to become involved."

You ask what were those other three gangs Chad listed.

"The three composed organizations of Srambad, each in control of their own area. I'm the leader of Tethdrap, north side, Skull Resistance, east side, used to be a part of Tethdrap, but they slowly started to drift and form their own. Jinx was a dark horse, taking over bits of Skull territory and establishing the west side, they had a more dignified emergence then Dose though." Chad sighs and rests on his other arm. "The point of a gang in Srambad is to provide protection from eachother- think of it as a makeshift police."

You lean on your hand, taking in the information. You ask how Dose received fairyworks in Srambad and why they would recklessly vandalize their own home.

"No doubt those fairyworks were smuggled in. Srambad's ecosystem is long gone, too toxic to grow anything that wasn't bred in Srambad, we can't make fairywork powder by ourselves." Chad crosses his arms, pondering about something. "I really shouldn't be telling you this, but I don't think you would honestly associate yourself with the likes of Srambad. I have a Tethdrap spy in Dose, from what information I was able to get, they have a dimensional voyager in their posse. I wasn't able to get a name, but if it's that one snowball (white haired) engie from Enuardo, I'm going to beat the living hell out of him before feeding him to the Bulldaggers." Chad spits out his last words bitterly. "As for their goal," Chad frowns, "I don't know. I just know that Dose has no respect to either god and needs to be disbanded as soon as possible."

Though you are indeed not very involved with Srambad's affairs, you understand his frustration. You recall the one Dose member that returned to warn of the explosives in the area. You ask Chad if that was his spy.

Chad rests his eyes and sighs. "Yes, that was my spy. I already knew the place was rigged, he had a too good of a heart to not try to prevent more casualties."

You quickly change the topic, Chad really doesn't need anymore stress right now. You ask what is going to happen now that Dose has launched a vicious attack.

"Everyone will be out for Dose blood." Chad's voice dips in another level of dark. "We left them alone for to long, they've made it clear that they had no moral code after today, both gangs and civilians will want Dose gone." Chad readjusts his mask to its original position, hiding all of his face but his eyes.

A period of silence passes between you two. You consider helping Chad in his Dose hunt, but he speaks first.

"Don't get yourself in this. Not only it's a Srambad exclusive matter, but only the people that were born in Srambad can deal with the toxins we throw at each other. The stuff I was hit with earlier," Chad pats his bad arm, "This would've shut down some organs if used on a foreigner."

You turn a bit cold at the new information. You'll remember to tread a bit more carefully whenever in Srambad.

Chad take notice of your expression of dread. "Heh, did I scare ya a bit?" Chad leans forward and stands. "I just really don't want to lose anymore of my folks today, including you."

You nod in understanding and stand aswell. You stretch from the prolonged shelter time.

"This isn't the first time they tried out the fairyworks, though today's was particularly bad. They usually end for good after the siren." Chad cleans up the table with what's left of he bandage and returns the bottles to their shelf. "Oh right, today was our training routine, eh?" Chad steps on the swivel chair to lower it back into its compact size before rolling it back under the table. "I'll make it up to you, I promise it."

You both make your way to the trapdoor, Chad exiting first. As you step outside, becoming overwhelmed by the scent of tar and pepper. Chad doesn't seem to take it well either and pulls his collar underneath his mask.

"Ugh... This smell won't be lifting for days."

You eventually hold the sickening feeling down and leave the shelter. It took only glance at the alleyway that led to the bazaar to see that it was no longer there. The remains of the shops scatter all over the alleyway, wood, clothing, novelty items.

"I'll give it 15 minutes before all the goods you see right now are gone." Chad jokes.

You heed Chad's warning earlier that you were not built to take on the hazards of Srambad, but that doesn't stop you from asking if you could do anything to help.

"You can help me by going home, back to your world." Chad turns to face you. "Just stay clear of Srambad for today at least."

You sigh. Chad doesn't reconsider his choices, nothing is able to make him do so.

"Hey, tomorrow after the place is cleared of anymore dud explosives, we can track down and knock some Dose skulls together if you're free."

Chad holds up his fist, prompting for a bump. You follow through and and lightly bump, considering his injuries.

"Tomorrow, yeah?" Chad shifts his footing, ready to begin moving again.

You agree and bid farewell to Chad. He returns it and activates his cloak, fading into the background. You honor Chad's request for you to get out of Srambad and find yourself the nearest Dragoturkey. Not surprisingly, you find your ride hiding under a slab of rock. You whistle at them and gently encourage them to leave their comfort rock.

Successfully motivating the taxi to work again, you drop off in front if Srambad. As you step into the Zaap, you wonder to yourself what exactly Chad was planning to compensate the loss training day.


End file.
